Talks and Texts [ #1]

1 | question marks and captain cold

1 | question marks and captain cold 😒

"Hey, Jacob, wait up!"

He went on walking. Jessica sighed and pushed past an assortment of the basketball players, illegal skaters and languid walkers of the school. She didn't want to lose sight of him. He was difficult enough to catch as it is. Boys and attitude problems, she thought. They always want to be chased so that they feel important.

"Jacob, please wait up."

He stopped and Jessica nearly crashed into him.

Of course, "please" always boosts their self-importance.

He turned to look at Jessica with unfocussed, dark eyes and she faltered at his blank look. She had never been this close to Jacob Lawson. True, school had started a month ago but Jacob Lawson was still a huge question mark. Sitting at the back of the class with a permanent disinterested scowl, he didn't really try to answer this question mark.

He was hardly heard to speak and made it a point to distance himself from everyone. All Jessica knew about him was that he was failing Chemistry, badly, and he didn't give a damn. That and the fact that he liked to feed the pigeons outside the school gate.

Guess who landed up with Loner Lawson for the Art Appreciation assignment? Yours truly, Jessica Summers. Of course. Because all she needed in life was a virtually non-existent partner for an assignment that could make or break her grade.

"Are you going to talk or just stare?" he asked, his eyes looking disinterestedly at something beyond her.

Jeez, way to boost a girl's self-esteem. She suppressed an eye-roll, "I'm Jessica...from the AA class?"

No recognition.

She took a deep breath, trying to be patient, and continued, "Anyway, we've been partnered for the AA assignment. So, do you have any ideas? I was thinking we could look at-"

It seemed like his attention span had reached its limit. "Text me," he said and sauntered away rudely.

She frowned and ran after him, "I don't have your number so I can't very well text you." She said the last part in an exaggeratedly scary imitation of his voice.

You would have thought that that would have prompted some sort of response from him but no, Captain Cold just rapped out his phone number as if it was mortally wounding him to speak even for a second more with a fellow being.

"I'm not a voice-recognition software so slow down a bit?" Jessica nearly shouted.

Her raised voice seem to confuse him and he frowned slightly and as he repeated, a bit slowly this time, his eyes were a cold, piercing gaze. Jessica glared back, telling herself to do anything but shiver. He blinked and the moment was past, and he began to tap his foot impatiently as she saved his number.

"At last," he said, icily, and before she could say anything he walked away as firmly and quickly as he could.

"Maybe he needed to really pee or something," she consoled herself, as she watched the human equivalent of a question mark disappear around the turn of the corridor. 

***

Dedicated to welfarism for the lovely graphics she's doing for this book.